Formed in 2008 by Charles S. Cohen, an executive producer of Frozen River which garnered two Academy Award nominations, the Cohen Media Group (CMG) is a Academy Award-winning independent theatrical distribution and production company, releasing the world's best in contemporary and classic cinema.
Cohen Media Group distributes select films throughout North America, allowing the CMG team to devote their best efforts towards each film’s fullest potential. CMG has released multiple Academy Award-nominated films, including Timbuktu, Mustang, and 2017’s Academy Award-winner, The Salesman.
In addition to a dedication to high-quality new releases, Cohen Media Group also restores classic films under the label, CohenFilm Collection. The restorations, which include the Merchant Ivory collection and the Buster Keaton catalogue, are re-released theatrically in pristine transfers and presentations.
With a strong dedication to quality movies and a talented support team of experienced professionals, Cohen Media Group looks forward to a long future as part of the film industry’s distinguished horizon.
Charles S. Cohen
Chairman and CEO
In his role as President and CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, Charles S. Cohen is one of the country’s most important commercial real estate owners/developers, as well as an influential patron, innovator and visionary of culture and the arts. With an eye and portfolio dictated by design, art and architecture, Mr. Cohen’s distinctive portfolio of office buildings and design centers are located in New York, Texas, Florida and Southern California. Mr. Cohen also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, The Lighthouse International Theater, The Public Theater, Real Estate Board of New York, the Stella Adler Studio and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
In 2008, Mr. Cohen was executive producer of the film Frozen River, which received two Oscar nominations and was awarded the 2008 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. He also directed and produced a short film, which was the recipient of a Kodak Movie Award.
Robert Aaronson
Robert Aaronson is an established film industry executive with expertise in Acquisitions, Production, Distribution and Sales. Prior to his current position as Senior Vice President at Cohen Media Group, Aaronson structured worldwide feature film acquisitions deals and secured output agreements with theatrical distributors such as Neon and Aviron on behalf of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Earlier in his career, he served as VP Acquisitions and Co-Productions at Fine Line Features in New York, acquiring such titles as Mike Leigh’s Naked and David O. Russell’s Spanking the Monkey, before relocating to Los Angeles to join 20th Century Fox. He later joined Netflix to help launch Red Envelope Entertainment where he acquired and sublicensed ancillary rights for dozens of films for the platform’s nascent streaming service. His credits as producer include Two of Us, starring Jared Harris and Aiden Quinn as John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Aaronson is based at the CMG offices in Los Angeles.
Justin DiPietro
Justin DiPietro joined Cohen Media Group from Netflix, where he was Director of Sales & Distribution at Netflix and helped devise theatrical campaigns for Academy Award nominated films such as Mank and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Prior to Netflix, DiPietro was Head of Distribution for IFC Films, where he oversaw the entire division and was responsible for establishing release strategies for annual slates of 36 to 42 films, including traditional theatrical roll-outs, as well as day/date and all platform digital releases. During his time at IFC Films, he worked on critically acclaimed and award-winning releases such as The Death of Stalin, Boyhood, The Babadook, Frances Ha & Clouds of Sils Maria.
Liz Mackiewicz
Liz Mackiewicz has an extensive background in Theatrical + Classic Library Sales, Distribution, and Film Production. During her tenure as Senior Vice President at First Look Studios (now Millenium) she sold such award-winning films as Julie Taymor’s Titus with Anthony Hopkins, Bruce Beresford’s Evelyn with Pierce Brosnan, and Julian Schnabel’s Before Night Falls with Javier Bardem. Liz also handled international rights as a senior executive for Morgan Creek International, Arclight Films, Media 8 Entertainment and Regent Worldwide Sales. Liz is a voting member of BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Los Angeles.
Patrick Steele
Patrick Steele brings more than 25 years of experience in photochemical and digital post-production, preservation, and restoration to his role as the Director of Film Archive for the Cohen Film Collection.
Prior to joining the CFC team as Servicing & Delivery Coordinator in 2012, Patrick earned extensive experience in a variety of roles in the film industry. While a supervisor at Technicolor, he oversaw a team of technicians performing 35mm film inspection, print rejuvenation, subtitle preparation, and documentation for most of the major Hollywood studios. He later spent more than a decade with the Library of Congress Motion Picture Conservation Center as a preservation/restoration specialist and digital restoration lead for some of our nation’s greatest cinema treasures. At Scenesavers, Patrick carried out work as a colorist, telecine operator, and digitizing specialist for a diverse range of clients such as NASA, Indiana University, John Deere, the University of Virginia, and Proctor & Gamble. During this time, Patrick was an Associate member of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE).
Patrick is also a skilled instructor, passionate about sharing knowledge, techniques, and craft. As an award-winning filmmaker, he has taught upper-level film production courses and master classes at the university level. As a dedicated archivist, Patrick has demonstrated post-production and restoration techniques to students at the George Eastman House/L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation, the New York University Moving Image Archiving & Preservation Degree program, and the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF).